Leeds libraries team up for empathy building collection

We’ve joined forces with other libraries around the city to bring Personal Stories to our shelves.

Working as part of Leeds Libraries for Health, we have collected a resource of over 140 specially selected works designed to highlight the impact that illness has on patients and their families. Its purpose is to help medical professionals and those who work with patients gain insight into the human side of illness.

Audrey Cobb, Operations Manager at the Library was a part of the team involved in the funding bid. Audrey said “It’s about providing an insight into the impact of a whole range of conditions, physical and mental, to help them see the person as a whole rather than simply a list of symptoms that can be treated with a pill. It’s about personalising and individualising healthcare. Humanising healthcare.”

“Leeds Libraries for Health got together to discuss how to address this and saw that we had a gap in the collection as well as some gaps in the syllabus. We then applied for the funding to plug the gaps and here we are.”

The collection covers a range of mental and physical conditions and includes personal accounts and works of fiction. It even includes storybooks for younger readers.

The collection is available at the Health Sciences Library — as well other libraries across the city.

Funding to create the collection was awarded through Health Education England and is the culmination of an effort by six libraries across Leeds.